The More Things Change
by PyroP-Dawg
Summary: Sideswipe does some shady dealings. But somethings are too nasty for even him to stand for. He forces Swindle to give up the sparkling. Things that are Sideswipe's stay Sideswipe's and nothing, no one is going to convince him to give up the sparkling now.
1. Chapter 1

AN: I sort of got this idea from the LJ TF fic bunny community, too. I won't tell you who the sparkling is yet, but probably in the next chapter. I don't know where this fic is going, really, I'm just starting it and hoping a plot will kind of emerge. Concrit would be greatly appreciated.

Warning: Well, there's some definite illegal dealing going on and talk of gladiator fighting. And there's heavy hinting at rather horrible intentions for the sparkling. But he gets saved before anything happens, if that's any consolation.

Disclaimer: I don't own, much to my dismay.

--

"So do we have a deal then?" the shady mech asked. The dim lighting made it hard to see much of anything, but that was hardly unusual for these types of deals. One didn't meet with Swindle in the nicest of areas and conditions, after all.

Sideswipe grinned and started reaching for his subspace. He paused when he heard a soft scraping. Blue sparks flashed in the corner of his optic. He turned to look, surprised to see a small shivering bundle of wires. "Swindle, what are you doing with a sparkling?" Sideswipe asked before he could help himself. The tone of his voice was low and dangerous.

Swindle swore and got to his feet. "I don't believe that's part of our business." He grabbed a tarp and threw it over the small mech.

"I'm making it part of our business now. Keep your credits and give me the sparkling."

Swindle's face split in a nasty smirk for a brief moment before he turned back to Sideswipe. "This little thing is going to get me quite a bit on the market, Sideswipe. More than that trinket you got for me. Mechs pay big for this kind of…treat."

Sideswipe swung to his feet and grabbed Swindle around the neck. He clamped his fingers tight, making wires creak with tension. He leaned over Swindle, putting more of his weight onto Swindle. "You seem to forget how I come by these 'trinkets', Swindle. I rip them from mechs with my bare hands in the pits, and I won't hesitate to do the same to you to get what I want." His optics flickered deep purple and his systems gave out a deep, harsh rumble.

Swindle's fingers scrabbled ineffectually at Sideswipe's grip. "Okay!" he managed to get out. "I'll give him to you for the credits!"

Sideswipe released him with a shove, sending Swindle crashing to the floor. "Good choice. I'll have your next toy in a few orns." Sideswipe reached into his subspace pocket and pulled out a component of a teleportation device. He threw it onto the table and walked over to the sparkling. He gently took the tarp off of the little thing and picked him up. He didn't look at him again until he was far enough out of the slums that he could relax.

The sparkling was so dirty he could barely make out the red paint. The sparks were coming from a deep gash on his head. Sideswipe cringed when he noticed the edges of the wound rusting. The sparkling looked up at Sideswipe, his optics wide with fear. Despite that, he held himself as close to Sideswipe's chassis as possible.

"We'll get you some help, little thing," Sideswipe said soothingly. He kept walking, heading back to his and Sunstreaker's apartment. "I'm gonna need some help after Sunny gets through with me too." The sparkling seemed to calm down a little bit while he spoke. Sideswipe didn't think it was so much what he said, just the tone of his voice. "But we've got a great medic 'bot that'll look at you. He's been around forever and he knows just how to fix up little mechs like you. Give you a bath too. Sunny won't want you anywhere near the apartment with all this mess on you." Sideswipe kept up a steady stream of words the whole way back to his complex.

Instead of going to his and Sunstreaker's apartment, he pressed a neighboring keypad.

"Who is it?" the mech inside snapped. The sparkling let out a quiet whine, the first noise he had made the whole trip. He buried his face in Sideswipe's chestplate.

"It's your favorite surrogate sparkling!" Sideswipe crowed. The door in front of him slid open with all the grouchiness an automatic door could manage.

The red and white medic stopped, his mouth open and ready to rant. He closed his mouth is an audible click. "What in Primus' name have you done now?" he finally asked wearily, moving aside so Sideswipe could come in.

"Nice to see you too, Ratchet."


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Okay, so the story has barely been up for a day and I've gotten fantastic feedback already! I'm so happy people like it. You people who added to alerts should come out and say hello! I'm flattered you like it enough to add it, so I won't bite. I promise. I know Sides is a little out of character right now, but he has reasons, which are hinted at in this chapter. This is pre-war, if I'm not being clear enough on that. Sunstreaker will be in the next chapter, finally. I don't expect being able to do daily updates, but I'll update as often as I can. I'm going to try to make the chapters a little bit longer next time around.

I know, I still didn't say who the sparkling was. But maybe someone can guess this time around, hm? Internet cookies if you can guess it right.

Disclaimer: I don't own, much to my dismay.

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"Put it down on the table," Ratchet said. He gave the sparkling a quick look over while Sideswipe was holding him. That gash looked nasty.

"Him," Sideswipe said. He moved over to the table and gently lowered the sparkling to the table top. The sparkling clutched at him for a moment but let Sideswipe set him down without fuss.

"Him, it, right now I don't care." Ratchet was careful to keep his tone soft. He didn't mind ripping Sideswipe and that Pit-born twin of his a new one, but sparklings got much gentler treatment from the medic. He moved slowly around the skittish little one, scanning more than physically exploring the wounds. Sideswipe wisely moved out of the way. Both older mechs noticed the sparkling's optics follow Sideswipe and made a note of it.

Body scans of the sparkling turned up relatively okay. Something that Ratchet was greatly thankful for. That gash had rust on it, and that was dangerous for anyone, let alone a sparkling this young. Ratchet didn't bother asking how the sparkling had gotten it. Sideswipe wouldn't have known, and Ratchet didn't want to pry into the darker aspects of the twins' exploits anyway.

Ratchet reached out and touched the area around the gash on the sparkling's head. He couldn't help but give a sympathy wince. The pain receptors had been disabled, probably to keep him from crying out, so it wasn't directly hurting him. Other systems would start getting painful if…

"Slag," Ratchet swore. He quickly but softly initiated the sparkling's temporary stasis lock.

"What? What's wrong?" Sideswipe asked.

Ratchet was grabbing for his tools. "The rust is in his CPU. Some of his chips are corrupted by it." He started scraping at the brown spots. "In the cabinet there should be some rust remover."

Sideswipe didn't ask any more questions, just grabbed the remover and passed it on.

--

It took Ratchet a few hours to be satisfied with the sparkling's conditions. He covered the gash with a flexi-seal.

"How is he?" Sideswipe asked.

"The rust didn't spread any further than there, but there's nothing I can do about the corrupted chips," Ratchet answered. "He's going to have a glitch."

Sideswipe grimaced. "How bad?"

Ratchet shook his head. "I don't know. Sparkling's heal fast and better than younglings and adults. It won't ever go completely away, but he should be able to function on a normal level." Sideswipe nodded. Ratchet watched him for a long moment. "Why did you bring him to me?"

"Because you're the best medic I know. And you wouldn't ask questions or anything like that."

"What are you going to do with him?"

"I don't know. I didn't really think that far. I couldn't leave him there." Sideswipe shook his head and looked up at Ratchet. Ratchet could see the anger burning in the red twin's optics. Ratchet stared back until Sideswipe looked away again. "I'm not going to let that kind of thing happen while I can stop it. Having a third mech in the apartment won't be so hard. I mean, Sunny will just have to move his art stuff or something."

"You're going to keep him?" Ratchet asked, disbelief coloring his voice. "How do you intend to do that? You and Sunstreaker are barely supporting yourselves."

"We'll figure something out, Ratchet. Besides, didn't you and 'Jack always tell us we should give what we get? You and 'Jack gave me and Sunny a place, so I'm going to give back."

Ratchet shook his head, but he couldn't keep the smile off his face. "You pick the strangest times to listen to things I said vorns ago." He reached up and gave Sideswipe a soft knock on the head. "I'll give you the data uploads of sparkling care."

"How long until he comes out of stasis?"

"I'll bring him up out of it in a few joors. Give some time for that flexi-seal to take good hold."

"How are things at the Academy?"

"Fair. The higher ups are getting edgy about something, but no one really knows what yet." Ratchet sifted through databanks on his terminal. "You have any insight into it?"

"Nothing concrete. There's rumors flying around about some mech causing a stir over in Kaon. It's been awhile since I've been over there, so I haven't seen him myself."

"You better not be planning on going back there. I'll have your processor as an ornament if I find either of you thinking about it."

"Nah, we aren't going back to there. We're not quite that stupid." _Or desperate, _Sideswipe thought to himself.

"With you two, one can never tell." Ratchet flicked open the upload port. "There's the files you'll need."

Sideswipe reached out a hand, data cable unfurling from under his wrist. He plugged into the port and downloaded the information. "Yikes."

"It ain't so easy to keep a sparkling."

"Nope, but we'll figure something out."

"Why don't you take him to someone? You and Sunstreaker..."

"Because he's mine now. You know how much I like to share. Besides, I gave up good credits for the little squirt." Sideswipe disconnected his cable and looked back at the sparkling. "Can I give him a bath here? Sunshine will have a fit if I get the apartment dirty."

"Yeah, just don't get and cleaner in that gash. I'll pull him out of stasis once you're done. Don't need him flailing while you're cleaning him."

Ratchet turned back to his terminal, reading up on some new medical texts from the CMO of the Academy. Sideswipe filled a container big enough for the sparkling to sit in with warm water and grabbed a bottle of cleanser. He carefully scooped up the sparkling and held it in the container, keeping its head out of the water. Washing proved to be a little challenging with one hand. When he said as much, Ratchet just smirked back at him in an irritating smug way.

"All clean. All dry." Sideswipe settled the little mech back on the table, keeping the towel underneath of him. Ratchet came over and looked the sparkling over. He nodded, satisfied with Sideswipe's wash job, and gently brought the sparkling out of stasis.

The sparkling's optics onlined immediately. His intakes took in a sharp breath of air as he looked around. When he caught sight of Sideswipe, he calmed marginally. "Well, at least we know he likes you. Now get out before that thing starts whining for energon. I've got reading to do."

Sideswipe smiled and gave Ratchet a mock salute. "I owe you, as always. I'll probably owe you more by the end of the orn. I was supposed to pick up some supplies for Sunny with the credits I would have gotten."

"You really are askin' for trouble today."

"It would be a boring day if I didn't."

/

Hope ya'll liked the chapter. I'm going to work on some more today, so hopefully I'll be able to get more up soon.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: So you guys are awesome! Thanks so much for all your feedback and encouragement. (And the cookies! You're my muse's new favorite friend, Misao.)

I'm sharing all my cookies to all you people who guess the sparkling. The sparkling is indeed Red Alert.

I was thinking about this chapter, like, all day at work today, so I tried to think about where I wanted to take the story. I think I have something resembling a detailed plot! I don't know. I'm almost scared to look at it too close. It might freak out and run.

I'm so glad to finally getting around to calling little Red something. I didn't want to keep calling him 'sparkling' and there's only so many other things one can call a baby 'former.

This chapter isn't too much longer than the last one, but it's a quick update. If it starts taking me longer to update, I'll definitely make them longer. Or, if you all prefer, I can intentionally space out my updates to make them longer.

Disclaimer: I don't own, much to my dismay.

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Sideswipe punched in his access code and stepped inside the apartment once the door slid open. The little mech in his arms looked around, optics flickering as he noticed things. Sideswipe wondered what he could be noticing. They didn't have a lot in the way of furniture. "Sunstreaker?" he called.

"I need blue," Sunstreaker called from a side room. Their apartment was small for two mechs of their size. They had one big room that they shared, a small room for Sunstreaker to paint in where Sideswipe wouldn't 'frag it all up', and a small area right inside the door for company. Company that rarely came, but that was neither here nor there.

"Yeah…about that…"

Sideswipe could feel Sunstreaker's uncertain and growing irritation through their bond. "There's no 'about that', Sides. Blue. Give it."

"There's a big 'about that', Sunstreaker."

Sunstreaker got to his feet, cycling air through his intakes to let out a sigh. It was never a good thing when Sideswipe didn't call him by some stupid pet name. He looked over the painting and frowned. He was too stuck on needing the blue to do much more with it right now anyway. Sunstreaker walked out of his art room and into the rec area. He walked straight up to Sideswipe and looked down at the sparkling in his arms.

The sparkling huddled closer to Sideswipe, but never took his optics off Sunstreaker. "You're scaring him." Sideswipe took a step back.

"Do not tell me you didn't get those credits because of this little pit-spawn." Sunstreaker locked optics with his twin and let his anger thread completely through their bond.

"Aw, c'mon, Sunny, don't be so mean. Look at the little thing."

"Take it back."

"Well, I think it's safe to say I've burned that bridge until I can get a really nice haul for our slick friend. So taking it back isn't so much of an option."

Sunstreaker raised a hand and rubbed his optics. Sometimes his twin just made his CPU ache. "So not only did you bring home _that_ you got us cut off from our relatively steady source of credits?! Are you malfunctioning?"

"Don't think so, but I could go ask Ratchet."

"Oh you'll _need_ Ratchet once I'm through with you." Sunstreaker took a threatening step forward. The sparkling let out a shrill shriek and held out his hands. He twittered angrily at Sunstreaker. Sideswipe couldn't help but smile. It even gave Sunny pause. "What's it saying?"

"I don't know, but it sounds like he likes you just as much as you like him."

Sunstreaker growled. "Bringing home a sparkling isn't like bringing home a turbo rat, Sideswipe."

"I know. Turbo rats are messier. Disposal all over the place when they get into your paints." Sideswipe grinned innocently at Sunstreaker.

"Give me one good reason why I should let you keep it." Sunstreaker gave him a level stare. Sideswipe fidgeted a little before his shoulders slumped.

"Swindle was gonna sell him into the trade, and I'm not talkin' the house slave trade. No way in the pit was I going to leave a sparkling to that."

Sunstreaker shook his head and looked back at the sparkling. It was still staring at him. "Do you even know the first thing about taking care of it?"

Sideswipe smiled and bounced excitedly on his feet. "Ratchet gave me some files on it. And it's a him, Sunshine."

"Don't call me that." Sunstreaker bared his teeth in distaste. "Just keep it out of my way. And you better find a way to get me my slagging paint."

"Got some legit deals happening tomorrow, so I'll have credits then."

"I'm not watching it while you're gone."

"Him. And I wasn't gonna ask you to." When Sunstreaker gave him another look, Sideswipe had to protest. "I wasn't! I just don't know what I'm going to do with him yet."

Sunstreaker sat in one of the chairs and watched Sideswipe start to pace. The sparkling was quiet in Sideswipe's arms, but it kept glancing around nervously. He looked at Sunstreaker most often.

"I can't ask Ratchet to watch him. He's got work at the Academy. Can't take him to any sparkling care. No credits and questions."

"Let them ask. Maybe they'll find the thing's creators."

Sideswipe shook his head. "I doubt it. He probably came from another city. Swindle would have erased any kind of identifying information anyway. Swindle's an aft, but he isn't stupid."

Sunstreaker grunted. He didn't doubt Sideswipe. Sideswipe knew the mechs of the underground better than he did. He didn't have the same patience for the bargaining. He'd rather just beat the credits out of them like they did in the pits.

"Plus, how are we to know his creators didn't sell him? Primus knows it's not unheard of right now. I mean, we can barely afford us even with our side job."

"What makes you think _you, _and I do stress the you, can take any better care of him?"

"Because we've got Ratchet two floors down and Wheeljack…that's it! Wheeljack can watch him!"

Sunstreaker snorted. "You're gonna trust Wheeljack around a sparkling?"

"He did okay with us, didn't he? As long as I have Ratchet lay down the law it'll be fine."

The sparkling clicked softly and patted Sideswipe's chestplate. When Sideswipe looked down at him, he let out a soft whine. "What does it eat?"

"_He _eats low grade. And we have plenty of that around." Sideswipe pulled a cube of low grade out of a cabinet and started looking around for a small container. He set the sparkling on top of a cabinet while he looked. The little one looked closely at his surroundings and trailed his fingers over the smooth metal of the cabinet top. When Sunstreaker got up, the sparkling squeaked and jerked towards Sideswipe. He wasn't too coordinated, so he didn't get far. Sunstreaker stopped and sat back down. Sideswipe reached out a hand to steady the wobbly baby. "He really doesn't like you. I keep telling you to work on those social skills."

"Whatever." Sunstreaker watched as Sideswipe found a smaller container and dipped out a small bit of energon. He held it up to the sparkling's mouth and tipped it slightly. The sparkling greedily slurped it all down, taking his focus off of Sunstreaker for a brief moment. "If you're keeping it, you have to name it something other than 'he'."

Sideswipe ran his fingers up and down the sparkling's back, helping him cycle out the air he took in with the energon. "Why not call him 'Red'?"

"Real original there."

"That's what…they used to call me before," Sideswipe claimed in his defense. "It'll do until he picks his own." The sparkling drained nearly half the cube before refusing any more. His systems revved tiredly. "Where are we gonna set him up to recharge?"

"Not in our room. Not in my art room."

"Aw, c'mon, Sunny, we can't leave him out here. We have space for him in our room. And he's pretty quiet." Sideswipe's tone took on that particular wheedling note that Sunstreaker could hardly resist. "Ratchet's file says he should be big enough to recharge all night." He looked up at Sunstreaker with pleading optics. Sunstreaker grimaced and Sideswipe cheered. "Hear that, little Red? You'll get to recharge in our room."

Red looked up at Sideswipe briefly before his optics flickered out.

"Don't use my polishing rags for it either."


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Sorry I didn't update yesterday. I had the chapter mostly typed, but I was sick as a dog so I couldn't finish it. This one's a little bit longer than the last, so hopefully that makes up for it.

Disclaimer: I don't own, much to my dismay.

\\\

The next morning, Sideswipe onlined to find Red staring at him from his makeshift recharge berth across the room. The sparkling shifted closer to the edge when he saw Sideswipes optics come on. He held his arms up and made a soft chirping noise. Sideswipe, always the early riser of the two twins, rolled off the berth quietly and picked Red up. He moved out into the rec area, sliding the door shut behind him.

"How 'bout some breakfast, huh, Red?" Sideswipe asked. Red let out an affirmative click and let Sideswipe set him back on the cabinet top. Sideswipe pulled out a container of low grade for himself and took a quick, big gulp of it before grabbing one out for Red. Red managed half the container again before refusing the rest. Sideswipe set him on the floor so he could finish his own energon without having to worry about Red falling.

Red looked around the room from his spot on the floor. He'd seen it yesterday, but from a drastically higher perspective. He rocked himself up onto his feet and took a few uncertain steps. He looked back up at Sideswipe as if asking permission. Sideswipe noticed, but didn't get the permission look. He went over to their computer terminal and started looking over the news of the day. Red took all this as consent and toddled around the room. He peered into the open side room, but didn't go inside. He didn't want to risk losing sight of his big red mech. The big yellow one might come and do something mean.

Sunstreaker rolled off the berth a few breems later. He stumbled out of the room, his optics dim while his recharge programs took their sweet time closing. He grabbed a container of energon and drained the whole thing. It was only then he noticed the sparkling eyeing him suspiciously.

Red was sitting near Sideswipe's feet, watching Sunstreaker with uncertain optics. The big yellow one had not been very nice yesterday. Sunstreaker growled softly and turned to go to their wash racks.

Sideswipe finished what he was doing and looked down at Red. "Okay, squirt, let's go meet Wheeljack. Blue paint, right Sunny?"

"Don't call me that!" Sunstreaker snapped back. "And green too."

Sideswipe made a note of it and scooped Red up into one arm. Red was a little disoriented at finding his legs dangling like that, but he felt pretty okay with his back pressed against Sideswipe's chest. He could see where they were going better this way. When they left the building, however, Red curled up a little bit, anxious to make himself smaller and keep from being seen. The walk was quick though. They went into a building across the street.

Sideswipe walked up to Wheeljack's door and punched in his keycode. Wheeljack didn't quite believe in the same privacy as Ratchet did, preferring to give his keycode to close friends than having to answer the slagging door all the time. "Hey, Wheeljack!" Sideswipe called. "I have a favor to ask."

Red let out a soft whirr as Wheeljack came into the room. "Ratchet warned me," Wheeljack said.

"And threatened you?"

"He wouldn't be Ratchet if he didn't!" Red couldn't help but be interested when he saw Wheeljack's vocal indicators. He uncurled himself from Sideswipe's arm a little. "He's about the same size as the other mech I'm watching."

"Other mech?"

Wheeljack nodded. "A friend of mine and Ratchet's has a sparkling – almost a youngling, really – that's more interested in science than his creators' penchant for weapons. They asked me to teach him rather than send him to the Academy. Academy is turning out more soldiers than scientists these days, and they're slacking in the education program. Gives me some extra credits, too, which is never a bad thing." Sideswipe let out an indulgent smile. Wheeljack would prattle on all day if he was allowed to. Hopefully the youngling would be able to sort out the nonsense from the actual things he needed to know.

"I can't offer much in the way of credits…"

Wheeljack waved a hand dismissively. "You know I don't mind. Just keep your optics open for any fun toys for me, yes?"

Sideswipe laughed and held Red out to Wheeljack. "Don't I always?" Red squealed in protest and curled himself back around Sideswipe's arm. Sideswipe held his arm up and away from him, looking curiously at the sparkling. "Pretty strong for such a little guy."

Wheeljack shook his head and held his hands under Red. "And what would you have done if he fell?"

"Catch him, of course. Just because your reflexes are terrible doesn't mean mine are. C'mon, Red, let go." Red squealed again and dug his little fingers into a crease in Sideswipe's armor. "Ow, ow, ow, Red, seriously!" Sideswipe cringed, but kept himself from flinging his arm to dislodge the shivering sparkling.

Wheeljack gently caressed Red's head, being careful of the still healing flexi-seal. "It'll be okay, Red. Sideswipe will come back for you."

"Is that what he's worried about? Primus, I would never abandon him like that." Sideswipe was a little surprised at his own vehemence. Granted, he really intended on taking care of Red, but when push came to shove, he was pretty attached to the little thing already.

"Hear that? He'll be back before the orn is over." Sideswipe nodded confirmation when Red looked at him. Red tightened his grip for a second longer before letting himself down into Wheeljack's waiting hands. "Much better. We'll find you something to play with until Perceptor gets here."

Sideswipe decided to get while the getting was good. "Com me if you need anything, Wheeljack. Don't bother trying Sunstreaker. He's not too keen on the whole sparkling idea yet."

Wheeljack nodded. "Noted, but we'll be fine won't we?" Wheeljack looked down at Red. Now that he wasn't so freaked out over Sideswipe leaving, Red was focused on Wheeljack's flashing indicators. He reached up and patted one of them, feeling the cool glass under his fingers.

Maybe staying with this mech for awhile wouldn't be so bad.

--

Sideswipe flipped the hatch on the transport closed and pulled a datapad out of a subspace. "All right, here's your total," he said as he passed off the pad.

Grapple frowned at the pad. "That's way too much."

"With what it cost me to get it all, I'm breaking about even. Take a look at the numbers." Sideswipe didn't bother edging back towards the truck. Grapple was good mech. He wouldn't think about making off with the supplies.

Grapple scrutinized everything on the pad before wearily handing it back to Sideswipe. "If something isn't done shortly, the Senate is going to run all businesses into the ground."

Sideswipe nodded agreeably. "You don't have to tell me twice." He accepted the credit transfer and stashed the pad back in subspace. "If you need anything else, let me know."

Grapple nodded, but didn't bother replying. He was looking at his transport of supplies with a distant look in his optics. Sideswipe smiled and went back inside. Grapple was always planning some kind of project. At least he kept Sideswipe in a decent amount of credits. This was plenty to get Sunstreaker's paint in addition to the rental fee for their apartment. He did one last walkthrough of the warehouse before sealing it up for the rest of the orn.

He stopped at Sunstreaker's favored art store and bought up some paint. He spotted finger paints and bought those as well. Red needed something to play with after all.

--

As soon as Sideswipe entered Wheeljack's quarters, Red attached himself to his leg. He sat on Sideswipe's foot and wrapped his arms securely around Sideswipe's ankle. He looked way up at the tall mech and clicked angrily. "You're late," Wheeljack added. "I was expecting you joors ago."

"Sorry. Got held up with Grapple," Sideswipe answered. "He needed to pick out a couple extra things for some project. You know how he gets." Sideswipe looked down at Red and smiled. "Sorry, kid, I'll try not to do it again. But I did come back, didn't I?" Red looked like he was thinking about it for a second before whistling softly. He held up his arms, asking to be held. Sideswipe happily complied.

"He's a sharp little mech, too. He can't really participate in Perceptor's lessons yet, but he listened in really well."

"Really? That's good. How far off the youngling mark do you think he is?"

"Ratchet could probably estimate better, but I don't think he's too far off. He's just small."

"I'll have to ask him. He'll wanna take a look at that flexi-seal in a couple of orns anyway, knowing Ratchet. Thanks again for watching him, Wheeljack. I'll send you my schedule so you know when I'll be bringing him over."

"Hey, Side," Wheeljack called before he could get out the door. "You still doing your side job on the weekends?" Sideswipe nodded and Wheeljack gave him a disapproving look.

"We have to now more than ever!" Sideswipe protested. "That's another reason I'm not taking him to sparkling care. I don't want anybody knowing we have him if we can help it." Red looked up curiously at Sideswipe. This didn't sound like such a good thing. "We're not going to the better business area anymore if that's any consolation."

"A small one. You know I'd help you out if you'd ask."

Sideswipe drew himself up proudly. "But I'm not asking. We can get by on our own."

"Just be careful," Wheeljack admonished. Sideswipe gave him a confident smirk before walking out.

"He just worries too much, Red. Sunny and I are perfectly capable of handling ourselves in the pits." Red clicked and patted Sideswipe's forearm. "Hey, I got you a present today, too. Time to see if you have any artistic skills in that smart little processor of yours. Just for the love of Primus, don't get any paint on Sunstreaker." Red nodded solemnly.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: The site is being screwy and not sending me any of my alerts, so I hope ya'll are getting yours. I don't have much to say this time 'round, just a big thanks to all you readers and reviewers. Oh, and we will get back to Wheeljack and Perceptor and you'll find out more about Perceptor's creators. It'll all relate to the little family somehow.

I'm still at a loss for what to call this story, though. sighs

Disclaimer: I don't own, much to my dismay.

/

"We're back, Sunny!" Sideswipe called when they walked in the door. He set Red on the floor and started unsubspacing Sunstreaker's paints. He set Red's paints on the floor. "No getting into those til I say so." Red nodded dutifully and tapped his fingers on the tops of the canisters. His optics brightened slightly and he started tapping them in a rhythm that made sense to him.

"Get my paint?" Sunstreaker called. He walked out of his studio, wiping his hands on a cloth. He had a little smudge of paint on his face, indicating he'd had a rather good day by Sunstreaker standards. Any day he didn't notice being messy meant his art would be particularly fantastic. That made Sideswipe a happy little merchant. He always got paid best for those kinds of paintings. There was a Towers mech looking for one of Sunstreaker's paintings. Maybe this would be the one for him.

"Got your paint and enough to pay rent. Meaning everything we get from the fun job will be spent on high grade, my dear brother." Sideswipe handed off the paints and snatched himself an energon goodie from the jar on the cabinet top.

"When are we going?"

"Not for another couple orns yet. Iacon's got some security 'bot sniffing around, so they're layin' low until they can get rid of him." Sideswipe tossed a goodie to Sunstreaker. Red watched the easy repartee between the brothers with keen optics.

"Academy security bots don't have any sense. It won't be long until he has an 'accident', I'm sure."

"Probably. In any case, we're up as soon as the fights are back on."

Sunstreaker finally looked over at Red. "What does he have?" Red had started smacking the lids with enough force to make the sound irritating.

"Finger paints. Thought it might be a good idea to give him something to do."

Sunstreaker scowled and looked away. "Just don't let him get near my stuff."

"I know, Sunshine, I know."

"Don't call me that." Sunstreaker picked up his paints from where he'd set them and went back to his studio. Sideswipe pulled a few spare sheets of thin scrap out of a drawer and laid it on the floor around Red.

"All right, Reddy, just keep the paints on the scrap, okay?" Sideswipe unscrewed the caps on the containers. "And no eating it. You can't process it like energon."

Red clicked and plunged his hands into the red paint. He squealed softly, his optics glowing brightly as he smeared his hands along the scrap. Sideswipe smiled and went to the terminal. He rechecked their accounts and started settling up their expenses and looking into trades.

It didn't take long for Red to cover his scraps in paint. There was one in particular, though, that he liked. The big yellow bot played with paints too. Red picked up his scrap and wobbled over to Sunstreaker's studio door. He knew he wasn't allowed inside, so he whistled softly to get Sunstreaker's attention. Sideswipe didn't look up. He'd gotten engrossed in some music, so he didn't hear Red.

Sunstreaker heard, though, and he did his best to ignore it. Red merely whistled louder, adding a few reprimanding clicks in as well. He edged a little closer to the door. "Don't think about it," Sunstreaker snapped. "My paints are not for sparkling play."

When he turned to look, Red held out the scrap. Sunstreaker gave it a quick once over, not really seeing it for what it was before turning back to his painting. Red whined softly and set the scrap just inside the door. He turned around and went back to his other pieces, dribbling paint here and there on them.

Sunstreaker got up what felt like a little while later to get some energon. He noticed the lights in the rec area were dimmed and the door to their recharge berths was closed. He checked his chronometer. Joors had passed since Sideswipe had been home. He went to leave his studio, nearly stepping on the piece of scrap Red had left behind. He reached down and picked it up, really looking at it this time.

It was definitely a sparkling's work. A big yellow smudge and a small red smudge were beside each other on the scrap. The yellow smudge had an 'arm' sticking out into a little rectangle of blue. The red smudge had two little 'arms' sticking out onto the ground into a mishmash of colors. "Oh for the love of Primus," Sunstreaker muttered quietly. "I ain't that soft."

Nonetheless, Red's scrap found itself a new home atop the drawers where Sunstreaker kept his extra supplies.

--

"So how's he doin', Ratchet?" Sideswipe asked. He trusted Ratchet, sure, but medics hardly ever meant anything fun, so he couldn't help but be a wee bit nervous for his little Red.

"I've only been looking at him for half a breem. Cool your processors and wait, slagger," Ratchet snapped back. Red whined softly and wriggled under Ratchet's steady hands. "You too, little one. I'll be done in a bit." Ratchet ran his fingers over the flexi-seal, his other hand holding Red down gently. He 

peeled it off slowly, taking care not to damage the dull new metal. "It'll hold as long as you don't go knocking him in the head with anything."

"How's his glitch, do you think?"

"Still uncertain. It looks like errant programming right now. It should solidify into something around the time he hits youngling status. As long as you two aft-heads take care, he should manage to make it into something useful." Sunstreaker snorted and looked away.

"How long will it be until he can upgrade?"

"He should be ready in a few vorns."

"Really? He doesn't talk a lot yet."

"Not all sparklings do. Just because we couldn't get you to shut your vocalizer doesn't mean everyone else runs off at the mouth." Ratchet looked over at Sunstreaker. "You going to design his upgrade?"

"Can I?" Sunstreaker asked. "I thought youngling models were just run off the assembly lines."

"Well it would be if he was registered." Red clicked inquisitively. "I didn't register him so you two could keep him. Since I can't get an upgrade off the lines, I'll have to build one. It'll cost, but if you can get me design work, I'll make it worth the extra."

"Or Sides can just 'find' us an upgrade."

"Aw, but that wouldn't be nearly as fun, Sunny," Sideswipe said. "You always complained about your youngling upgrade. You wanna put him through that, too? I can probably find most of the parts on the cheap, though."

Sunstreaker rumbled low in his chest. "I guess I can sketch up something." He looked at Red, considering the little sparkling. Red fidgeted under his scrutiny. "Does size matter?"

"Well, he's small now, so you don't want something that's going to be too much of a jump in size. He'll probably never be as big as you two, but he won't be too far off the mark."

"When he gets his youngling form, we can teach him to fight, right?" Sideswipe asked. Ratchet immediately turned on him, his optics sparking with anger.

"You will be torn to scrap metal before I let you take him to the pits, Sideswipe," he growled. Sideswipe backed away, throwing up his hands in defense. Red shoved himself to his feet when Ratchet let go and immediately started berating Ratchet for threatening Sideswipe.

"No! No, nothing like that, Ratchet, honestly!"

Sunstreaker reached out and grabbed Red when the sparkling wobbled dangerously on the edge of the table. He kept Red firmly in hand, but held him slightly away from his chassis. "It's not safe for him to 

know nothing, Ratchet. He has to know how to defend himself." Red looked up at Sunstreaker and whistled softly.

"If anyone knows how hard it is to keep something a secret, it's me," Sideswipe said. "We won't be able to keep him one hundred percent off the radar. We want him to be able to defend himself if anyone tries anything with him."

Ratchet growled softly and backed down. "That's acceptable."

A few breems later, the twins left. Sunstreaker dumped Red back into Sideswipe's arms. "Where does he get off telling us how to teach Red?" he ground out.

"He's just looking out for him, Sunny," Sideswipe answered. Sideswipe couldn't bring himself to question the abrupt turn his brother's feeling had taken towards red. He wasn't one to look a gift engine in the pistons.

"Yeah, well, he should mind his own business."


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Sorry for the delay in an update, guys. Offline life took a turn for the busy, sadly.

I swear this is the last time I'm doing a title change, too. I wasn't keen on Two and a Half Mechs, so I finally forced myself to think of something better.

The pit scene is totally pro-wrestling with Transformers. laughs I don't particularly like writing fighting scenes (even though I have gotten it down a little bit better. I took Tae Kwon Do for a year, so I have a little bit better idea of how fighting actually works. Nothing like having a black belt whack you a couple dozen times to work out how he's doing it.) I figured the pit isn't just going to be a come and fight kind of thing, but it has to have some kind of organization. And yes, I picked the Combaticons for it. There's a reason, so I hope some G1-ers pick it up!

And the funnest thing happened to me yesterday. I was at Toys-R-Us looking for new Transformers, and I found a very special one: a little Red Alert! He comes up to Alternators Sunny and Sides knees. So he really looks like their sparkling! It makes me smile.

As always, thank you all for your reviews and your support!

Disclaimer: I don't own, much to my dismay.

\\\

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker made their way into the fighter's entrance to the pots. The fights were back on. Rumor had it the Academy bot had been scared off by Onslaught's muscle bots – Vortex, Blast Off, and Brawl.

The atmosphere was the same as always. Shouts, jeers, and cheers echoed through the halls from the ring itself. Thick smoke hung in the air, a testament to the mechs that had gotten the bolts beaten out of them.

No one would have recognized the twins in this setting. No fool came for fight in the pits without doing something to protect his identity, especially mechs like them that had legal businesses of their own. Both of them were dull, matte black armor, styled differently than their normal armor, instead of their trademark red and yellow. They wore purple visors over their optics. The only visible difference between the two was the faceplate Sideswipe wore to change the tone of his voice. Sunstreaker never spoke except when they were called to the ring.

The pits put on a show for their customers, definitely. The mech that ran the place Onslaught planned everything out like some dramatic play. The only thing he never controlled was the outcome. He liked seeing mechs tear each other apart and no amount of orchestration could match natural creativity when sparks were on the line. The show itself was ridiculous, but Onslaught made them do it if they wanted their cut.

"Nightmare, Terror, good to see you again," Onslaught said genially when he saw them.

"Onslaught," Sideswipe, here called Nightmare, acknowledged. "Got a fight for us tonight?"

"Of course. The crowd demands you two, as always. I must request, though, that you try a little harder not to offline anyone this time, hm? Good fighters are getting so hard to come by."

"We make no promises."

"Better make some attempts or you'll find your cut comes up a little short."

"Ouch. Hitting a mech in the credits is below the belt, Onslaught. Make it worth our while and we'll keep 'em alive."

Onslaught smirked. "I've got quite the challenge for you."

"Oh, really? Who?"

He nodded. "Get out in the ring and find out."

--

"Feel the terror!" Sunstreaker bellowed as he and Sideswipe stepped out into the arena. The crowd rose to their feet with a roaring cheer. The act made the twins cringe, but it served a purpose. There weren't many mechs that didn't take a hit to the confidence when they heard the words.

"We're your worst nightmare," Sideswipe snarled just loud enough to be heard over the din.

Their opponents stepped out into the ring even as the crowd chanted the twin's names. One was near minibot size with wicked looking claws on the ends of his fingers. Another was a cyclo-craft. His bulk could be a disadvantage, but his rotors were cut to razor-sharp edges. Sideswipe caught a glimpse of a creature drone attached under the mech's rotor assembly. The third and last would be the most useless in the cramped ring. He was bigger and bulkier than the cyclo-craft. A huge shoulder cannon was obviously his weapon of choice, but it wouldn't make any difference. Projectile weapons were overridden and offlined before a mech even set foot in the ring. Onslaught and his gang liked when mechs got their hands dirty.

"All right, settle down, settle down," Onslaught said as he stepped onto the announcer's platform. "My good mechs, in honor of staying hidden from those blind Academy glitches yet again, we have a special match for you. Iacon favorites Nightmare and Terror…" The crowd roared their approval yet again. "…versus three of Kaon's rising gladiators Barricade, Blackout, and Brawn!"

The air fairly crackled with tension at that. Kaon mechs rarely chose to fight in the Iacon pits, but when they did, it was a match to be remembered.

"So, my friends, hurry and place your bets. The odds are good for the home team." Onslaught waited a few more minutes for mechs to place their final bets. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe eyed up their opponents. It wouldn't be an easy fight, but it promised to be..entertaining. " All right…let the match begin!"

The creature drone immediately detached from its host Blackout. There was a harsh screech of metal as it tore through the floor and disappeared under the ring. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker kept their sensors on the drone. It proved not to be such an easy task. It had a type of sensor blocking armor.

Blackout leapt at Sunstreaker. He got close and ducked, swiftly sweeping his rotors forward over his head. Sunstreaker caught the blades on his forearms. The edges dug into his armor, sending sparks flying on impact. A split second later, Sunstreaker had to leap into the air to avoid the drone's strike.

Brawn charged Sideswipe as well. He sidestepped Brawn easily, using a swift kick to help him headfirst into the wall. Barricade used the opportunity to speed in and rake one of his hands down Sideswipe's back. Sideswipe grunted and continued using his momentum to spin around, grab Barricade in a crushing two-handed grip, and throw him to the ground.

Sunstreaker dropped down hard on Blackout's rotor assembly, having successfully dodging the drone's attack. The rotors splayed out of their sockets with the force, making Blackout cry out in pain.

--

A pair of mechs was sitting in the top risers, watching the fights with much less enthusiasm than the others in the crowd. Both were covered by a hologram, courtesy of a portable generator. "The Kaon mechs are good," one commented softly.

"Nah, Nightmare and Terror are just gettin' started," the second answered. He had to speak carefully to keep his normal accent out of his voice. It was a defining characteristic that couldn't be covered by the generator.

"You've seen them fight before?"

"A time or two. They fight nearly every time. Crowd favorites."

"Any idea who they really are?"

He shook his head. "They aren't stupid enough to come here usin' their real designations. Asked someone once; didn't get a good answer. Those two don't talk to anyone but each other and Onslaught."

"We'll add them to the list."

--

They had to take a twisting way back to Sideswipe's warehouse. They doubled back and retraced time and again. Onslaught had had them discreetly tailed a time or two before, and they weren't willing to risk anything.

Once back, they stripped off their armor and put on their red and yellow plating. The medic at the pits had patched them up enough to be passable, but they had an appointment with Ratchet the following cycle, as per routine.

"Did we get enough to make Swindle happy?" Sunstreaker asked as he pulled a few parts out of his subspace. He tossed the parts on Sideswipe's desk.

"Maybe," Sideswipe answered. "I'll probably wait until we get Red in his upgrade before going back to him. He knows about Red, and if I frag him off again…"

The two finished making themselves presentable and left, locking up and activating the security system behind them. They started on their way back to Wheeljack's to pick up Red. "That Towers mech still looking for paintings?"

"Yeah."

"Set him up to come by the studio. I don't care when." Sideswipe gave Sunstreaker an incredulous look. Sunstreaker hated others being in their apartment, and even fewer of those visitors had been inside his studio room. "We need the credits for Red's upgrade, and he's not picking anything that you're taking him. Might as well come see what I've got."

Sideswipe smirked but didn't comment on Sunstreaker's change of heart. "I'll set something up."

--

Sideswipe punched in Wheeljack's code and walked in. Sunstreaker followed behind, sliding the door shut behind him. Red was curled up in recharge on Wheeljack's couch. They caught him recharging for just a second before he woke up.

Red onlined his optics and rubbed them with his hands. He stretched cramped servos and whistled at the twins. He held up his hands to them. Sideswipe scooped him up in one arm. "Hey, Wheeljack! I thought we asked you to watch him, not leave him for just any mech to walk in here and grab," Sideswipe yelled. He smiled to take any nastiness out of his words.

Wheeljack walked out of his lab, wiping his hands on a cloth. "He was recharging. No harm in letting him recharge in peace," he answered. "How'd it go?"

"Beat the bolts out of three Kaon mechs."

"And their creature drone," Sunstreaker added.

"Nice. Going to get Ratchet to check those welds?"

"Next cycle," Sideswipe answered. Red snuggled into Sideswipe's chassis with a happy little rumble. "Did Ratchet talk to you about helping make Red's upgrade?"

"Yeah. I'm working on the connecting neural circuitry and-"

"Sounds great. I'm tired," Sunstreaker broke in, cutting Wheeljack off before he could go into details. Wheeljack's indicators flashed in amusement.

"I'll have to talk to you two about his teaching later, too. Unless you want me to keep teaching him what I'm teaching Perceptor?"

"That's fine," Sideswipe answered. "I don't know, I guess whatever you think he might like to learn." Sunstreaker slid the door open and stepped out, silently prompting Sideswipe to follow. "See you later, Wheeljack. And thanks."

Wheeljack waved as the small family left.


	7. Chapter 7

AN: I have no idea why, but this chapter was a pain to write. It did not want to come out at all. Next chapter should be much better.

Disclaimer: I don't own, much to my dismay.

\\\

It took a few orns and a few commissioned paintings, but Red's youngling body was finally ready. Red onlined the morning he was supposed to undergo the transfer and whistled loudly at the twins. He would normally wait until Sideswipe woke up before asking for attention, but he was excited. They had told him about the transfer. He wasn't sure if he should be excited or scared, but Sideswipe seemed excited and that was good.

"Side!" Red squeaked. When Sideswipe didn't move, Red ground his vocalizer in displeasure. "Side! Up!"

"Mmm…Red?" Sideswipe answered groggily. He forced his systems to boot up faster and rolled off his berth.

"Side, energon." Red held up his arms as Sideswipe walked over to him.

"Energon, energon," Sideswipe said. "When you get transferred, you can get your own energon."

"No. Side get energon." Red smiled.

"'Side get energon', huh?" Sideswipe stuck his fingers under Red's light sparkling armor and tickled the sensitive wiring underneath, making Red squirm and shriek with laughter.

"Some of us are still tryin' to recharge, ya know," Sunstreaker growled.

"Grumpy!" Red said as Sideswipe left the room.

"He's always grumpy this early, little Red, you know that."

"Ratch grumpy, too?"

Sideswipe laughed. "Probably. We'll find out when we go see him."

"Jack?"

"Not today, remember. Give yourself a couple of days to get used to your upgrade like Perceptor had to. Then you can go back to Wheeljack's." Sideswipe got their energon for them and helped Red hold the cube while he drank. When Red was finished he set him on the floor so he could have his own.

Red got to his feet and wandered over to the few toys Sideswipe had managed to find him or Perceptor had given him. He started stacking his blocks while Sideswipe checked his terminal.

Sunstreaker came out of the room, his optics glowing dully as the rebooted. "I hate you both," he growled. He grabbed a cube of energon and downed it.

"Sunny come with?" Red asked.

"What?"

"Sunny come with? Ratch grumpy. Sunny come yell and make Ratch not grumpy at me."

"Then he'll be grumpy at me. No thanks."

"Sunny has some stuff to do around here today, Red," Sideswipe said. "Sunny, keep an eye on the feeds from the warehouse. Some mech has been sniffing around."

"Got it."

Sideswipe left the terminal and scooped Red up in his arms. "Won't be able to do this much longer." Red whined and buried his face in Sideswipe's chest armor. "It'll be all right, Red, I promise."

"Don't b'lieve you," Red muttered.

Sideswipe left their apartment and started towards Ratchet's. "Don't believe me? Would I lie to you? To other mechs, definitely, but never to you, little Red."

"It's about time," Ratchet snarled when Sideswipe knocked on the door. He yanked it open and ushered them inside. "The sooner we get him in this upgrade, the better."

"Did you manage to get out of registering him?"

"For now, but it won't last much longer. He has to register to get an ID tag. When he chooses a name, we'll have to register him."

"We'll deal with that when it happens, I guess." Sideswipe shifted Red around to hand him to Ratchet.

Red clung to Sideswipe's arm with all his strength. "No!" Sideswipe said registering was bad. That's why he was never allowed on the terminals. If he had to get a name when he got his youngling body, he didn't want it!

"Come on, Red. You have to upgrade some time."

"No!"

"You were excited about this yesterday."

"No!"

Sideswipe cycled air slowly through his intakes. "Red, I told you on the way over here it would be okay. Why are you scared?"

"No names. Stay with you and Sunny."

"You're gonna stay with us no matter what. We won't ever let anyone take you." Sideswipe peeled Red off his arm and held him in one hand. "And when you get upgraded, we'll teach you how to defend yourself to keep people from taking you if we're ever not around. It'll be fine."

Red thought about it and whined softly, but he held his arms out to Ratchet.

Ratchet gently took Red from Sideswipe and walked into his workshop.

--

It took a few joors for Ratchet to completely transfer Red from one body to another. Sunstreaker came in at one point and sat beside Sideswipe on Ratchet's couch.

"How much longer?" he asked.

"I don't know," Sideswipe answered. "He's been in there all orn."

They didn't bother to check their chronometers when Ratchet stepped out of the shop. Without asking, Sideswipe went and got him a cube of energon. "He's recharging. Transfer went okay. His spark is holding steady and accepting the new body. His glitch is reduced by a lot in this form too. He'll be able to talk more normally now." He gulped down the cube that Sideswipe handed him.

"Thanks, Ratchet. We really owe you."

Ratchet waved his hand dismissively. "As soon as he wakes up, you can take him home. I want him resting for a few orns yet."

"You got it."

--

Red came online with irritating slowness. His reboot cycle was taking a lot longer. He stretched out his servos, trying to get used to the bigger feel of everything.

Bigger feel?

He sat bolt upright and looked himself over. His paintjob was still mostly red, but there was quite a bit of white mixed in too. And boy was he bigger. He guessed he'd be about three quarters of Sideswipe's and Sunstreaker's size. He looked around finally and noticed Ratchet watching him.

"Everything working all right?" Ratchet asked.

"I think so," Red answered, testing out his new vocalizer.

"Your readings are good. I want you to take it easy for a couple of orns. Get used to how your new body is working. If anything, and I mean anything feels off, you come tell me, all right?"

Red nodded. "I'm allowed to leave now?"

"Yeah, get out of here." Ratchet smiled slightly and moved to let Red out of the room.

"Wow, Ratchet, he looks great," Sideswipe said when Red walked out.

"Excuse me, but who designed him?" Sunstreaker asked, not half as irritated as he sounded.

"Details."

Red smiled slightly.

"Get out of my quarters. Unlike some of you, I've been working all day," Ratchet said. He pointed towards the door.

"Thank you, Ratchet," Red called over his shoulder as he followed Sideswipe and Sunstreaker out. He walked between the two of them, feeling very exposed. He couldn't hide in Sideswipe's chassis anymore, but between the two bigger mechs he was at least a little out of sight. He couldn't help but look around constantly, routing more power to his optics so he didn't miss a thing.

"Relax, Red, there's nothing to see," Sideswipe said, noticing the brighter glow from Red's optics.

"No one would bother you with us anyway," Sunstreaker added.

"I can't help it," Red answered softly. "I just…I don't like it."

When they got back to their apartment, Sideswipe lead the way inside. "We have an extra surprise for you too, Red." When Red looked up at him curiously, he pointed to Sunstreaker's studio. "Recharge room of your own."

"B-but what about Sunstreaker's art stuff?" Red asked.

"Gonna keep it out here," Sunstreaker answered. "You know not to touch it, so it won't get messed up."

"And once we get you registered, we can put a terminal in there for you," Sideswipe added.

Red whined slightly, not really liking that idea. Something was really bothering him, but he couldn't figure it out. It wasn't anything wrong, really, but…

"Upgrading takes awhile to get used to, Red. You'll feel like yourself again in a couple of days. Go get some more recharge."

Maybe that would help.


	8. Chapter 8

AN: Here's the next chapter for ya'll! I finally introduced Perceptor and his creators! I hope everyone likes this one. I'm trying to pick up the pacing a little bit. I still haven't decided where to end it, but I've got a lot of story to cover between now and whenever that happens to be. If things feel like they're going to fast, let me know. Please, if you're reading, let me know what you think, good or bad. I appreciate any kind of feedback.

Disclaimer: I don't own, much to my dismay.

\\\

It took a few orns for Red to get used to his new body, just as Ratchet had said. When he finally felt up to it, Sideswipe took him back to Wheeljack's. As usual, he was there before Perceptor. Wheeljack's indicators flashed a brighter, happy blue when he spoke to Red. "You're finally back!" he said.

Red smiled cautiously. "Yes," he answered. Sideswipe had just left him at the door, needing to get to the warehouse early for a drop off. "Wheeljack, I have a question."

"What is it?"

"Can you teach me about security systems?"

Wheeljack was admittedly a little surprised. They'd never even looked at security systems before. Perceptor preferred more scientific and inventive pursuits, and Red had never shown a preference, happy to go along with whatever Perceptor had decided to learn about that orn. "Why do you want to know about those?"

"Sideswipe has been having a problem with his at the warehouse. I want to know how to fix it. I need to know." Wheeljack barely caught the catch in Red's vocalize when he spoke of needing to know. Ratchet had warned him plenty in advance about Red's glitch. They had both been a little relieved when it didn't manifest while he was a sparkling. If it did decide to manifest itself now in this way, it shouldn't be too catastrophic. Younglings could handle a lot more than sparklings. And worse things had happened than being obsessed with security.

"Sure, we can learn about them. I don't know too much, to be honest, but I'll find out what I can and I'll give you access through my terminal to databases about them like I do for Perceptor sometimes. If you want some hands on experience, I'm sure Sideswipe could tell you about his or I could ask Ironhide if he knows anyone at the Academy-"

"No!" Red broke in, sounding near panic. "I'm not going anywhere near the Academy!"

Wheeljack held up his hands in a calming gesture. "I'm sorry, I forgot. No registration number. After you get one, though, you should see about getting formal training at the Academy if you're interested in security. Ironhide was telling me just the other day about a topnotch security mech just graduating."

The door slid open and Perceptor stepped through. He smiled when he saw his friend. "You're here! Your upgrade looks fantastic!" he exclaimed. He slowly circled Red, looking over every bit of his friend's new body. Red fidgeted under the scrutiny, but didn't mind nearly as much as he thought he was going to. "That's more of a warrior build, isn't it? Parts of it look like Ironhide's."

"Well, Ironhide is an older model," Wheeljack broke in. "This is a more modern style for fighting mechs, much more streamlined, allowing for better range of motion and flexibility."

"That makes sense. Chromia is always worrying about his joints being twisted wrong while he's training new recruits. I'm guessing newer models don't have that many problems in those areas?"

"Hardly at all. They still have some; of course, because they're overworking their bodies anyway as soldiers, but it's much less wear than Ironhide's. Kind of like how your armor is more resistant to corrosives and general explosions than mine is."

Red couldn't help but smile. "Security systems, Wheeljack," he prodded, trying to get them back on track for what he wanted for the day.

"Oh, right. We're going to learn about security systems for a little while today. Once I get Red settled with the basics, we can get back to what you were working on."

"That's fine," Perceptor agreed. "We've been doing what I want the whole time anyway. It couldn't hurt to learn about security systems, I'm sure. Learn a little bit of everything if I can."

Wheeljack smiled behind his facemask and followed his two students into his lab space.

--

Later that orn, Sideswipe came into Wheeljack's apartment. He stopped as soon as he entered, unable to hide his surprise at hearing an unknown voice. They were in another room, so he didn't have to worry about the slide being noticed. Whoever the mech was, they had a slight warp in their vocalizer, giving him a sort of drawl in his speech. That had to be Perceptor's creator. Wheeljack had mentioned the vocalizer warp was something that all members of this family unity had. Something about all of them being field officers and the distinct vocal pattern helped their troops pick out their orders.

But he'd never met Perceptor's creators. He made sure to come before they did to pick Red up to avoid any unnecessary questioning about being Red's creator. He quickly regained his composure as Red looked out into the main room.

"Sideswipe," Red said as a greeting. He walked out of the lab and over to Sideswipe. Perceptor was not far behind him.

"Hello, Sideswipe," Perceptor said, nodding his head slightly in respect.

"Hey, Perceptor, how have you been?" Sideswipe asked, trying to keep from letting any nervousness bleed into his vocalizer. From the look on Red's face, he didn't manage it one hundred percent.

Wheeljack walked out into the main room, followed by a large red fighter model mech. "Ah, Sideswipe, right on time," he said. "This is Ironhide, Perceptor's creator and a friend of mine and Ratchet's since our Academy days."

Ironhide nodded a greeting. "Perceptor talks about yer younglin' all the time, but today's th' first day I've met either o' ya. Nice ta finally get th' chance."

"Likewise," Sideswipe answered. There was a brief period of silence before Ironhide turned to say goodbye to Wheeljack.

"Gotta be gettin' back. Chromia's got some new disk she wants ta show me. Some silly play or somethin' I'm sure." Ironhide put a hand on Perceptor's shoulder and steered him towards the door. "I'll be seein' ya."

After the door slid closed, Red moved closer to Sideswipe's side. "Why does Ironhide make you so nervous?" he asked frankly. Both twins had noticed once Red had started talking, he'd picked up Sunstreaker's unfortunate habit of picking the worst times to say exactly what was on his processors.

"He hasn't even asked about Red's registration, if that's what bothers you," Wheeljack said.

"That's definitely part of it. I mean, I knew Perceptor would talk about Red to his creators. He talks about everything. It's highly unusual for two mechs to have a sparkling, let alone to unbounded mechs."

"I've never told him how you and Sunny are related," Red said. "It isn't something he needs to know. The only reason he knows about Sunny at all is because Wheeljack asks about him sometimes."

"Still, if he starts asking around about Red's registration…There's not a bot in Iacon that doesn't know about Ironhide. He's the fragging Weapons Officer for the Autobots. If he puts it up to the security mechs to stick their noses into it, it won't take long for them to realize we have nothing for Red."

Red shivered slightly and slid closer, allowing him to feel the slight heat radiating off Sideswipe's chassis. He couldn't really fit comfortably up against Sideswipe anymore, but he'd take whatever comfort he could.

"He won't do that," Wheeljack attempted to reassure him. "If anything, he'll come to me and Ratchet first. Primus, Ratchet and I have spoken about you two with him occasionally when we have a chance to meet and catch up. You and Sunstreaker like your privacy, so we've never asked you to go meet him or Chromia with us. He never did anything about us raising you two."

Sideswipe relaxed slightly. That was true. Ratchet and Wheeljack had never had much of a chance to tell him and Sunstreaker about their time in the Academy. They'd graduated not long before meeting the two younglings, and between teaching them and their own work, there wasn't much time for anything other than trying to deal with what life had dealt them. He'd known Wheeljack knew Ironhide, but had never bothered connecting that to being Perceptor's creator. It would make sense, though, that Ratchet and Wheeljack would have told Ironhide about the twins. They had been very close friends at one point. 

At the time, though, Ironhide had not been an officer and could not start investigations on his own. And what business did a weapons mech have with younglings with neglectful creators? It certainly wouldn't have helped him in his chosen career path. Neither, now, would doing any investigating about Red.

"I guess that's the best I can ask for," Sideswipe said softly. "I'm working on a way to get Red registered, but I haven't been able to get in touch with my contact for awhile. Once he's registered, we won't have to worry about it." Sideswipe put a hand on Red's elbow, turning him towards the door.

"Ironhide's a good mech, Sides. He won't do anything to hurt his creation's friend."

Sideswipe nodded, trying to take the reassurance for what it was. The sooner he could get Red registered, the better.

He had to go see Swindle.


	9. Chapter 9

AN: Sorry about the delay in updating, ya'll. I've been on vacation, so I've been doing things with the family. Had to work writing around that, sadly.

Disclaimer: I don't own, much to my dismay.

\\\

Sideswipe did his level best to sit as nonchalantly as possible. He was alone in the room save for one silent security mech. He'd been waiting for nearly a joor now. It was a tactic he was familiar with. The longer he was left alone, the more nervous he was supposed to get. Especially since he knew he was being watched. Not just by the security mech, but also by the cameras scattered about. If your intakes so much as hitched the wrong way, Swindle and his cohorts would know about it. Sleight of hand was impossible in this set up.

It's also one reason why Sideswipe always demanded to meet Swindle on neutral turf. Meeting on Swindle's territory gave him a sort of advantage; the comfort to demand things he otherwise wouldn't have. Swindle needed what Sideswipe could get him, so he always agreed. After their last meeting, however, Swindle wasn't taking any chances. It was going to be on his terms or nothing.

Finally Swindle came in the room. The security mech stepped to the side to let him in. He smiled amiably at Sideswipe, trying to set him at ease and off guard. "It's been awhile, Sideswipe," he said.

"I finally got enough trinkets for you," Sideswipe answered. He started pulling parts out of his subspace.

Swindle picked up each part and looked them over. "Triple changer transformation cogs? They're in good condition too…What do you want for them?"

"I need a full set of papers and registration number for that sparkling with this information." Sideswipe set down a piece of scrap with his writing on it in front of Swindle. It held all the information Swindle would need to register Sideswipe and Sunstreaker as Red's creators.

Swindle gave it a cursory glance. His circuits still burned over that altercation. Sideswipe had cost him a lot by stealing that sparkling. But with five sets of triple changer transformation cogs…"What else?"

Sideswipe scoffed. "Five sets is more than enough, plus the other pieces. All I need is credible papers."

"Credibility is hard to get, Sideswipe. Especially to date these papers the way they need to be…" Swindle leaned back in his chair, an easy smile crossing his face.

This is why Sideswipe hated playing on his turf. "I can do it myself, Swindle, but you can do it faster. That's the only reason I'm coming to you with it. I can sell those sets myself, too. So take what I'm offering, or I'll walk."

Swindle tapped his fingers on the table, considering. He hated giving in, but Sideswipe didn't lie about what he could do. These cog sets would really come in handy in Kaon. "All right, I'll do it. But I expect a little extra next time you stop in. And there will be a next time, I'm sure."

"I wouldn't dream of staying away."

"I'll be back in a few breems." Sideswipe watched as Swindle picked up the scrap and walked out. He didn't allow himself to relax. That wouldn't happen until he was back at home with Sunstreaker and Red.

Red hadn't picked a permanent name yet, but now that they had actual papers for him, he could at any time. They could also get him a terminal code of his own and get him access to files on security systems like he kept asking.

A few breems later, Swindle came back as promised. He handed the scrap and a disk containing Red's papers to Sideswipe. "Got it all together."

"A pleasure doing business with you, Swindle."

--

Red let himself into Wheeljack's terminal using his new code. He brought up the files he'd been looking over earlier.

"Don't you ever get tired of looking at the same stuff?" Perceptor asked. The fledging scientist was putting together a magnifier, taking notes on his process all the while. Wheeljack was leaving the two of them to their own devices more and more often lately, allowing them room to breathe and work on their own and to catch up on his own work.

"Not really," Red answered. "I like learning about these things." He turned from the terminal and looked at Perceptor. "Don't you ever get tired of building things like that?"

"Small things are fascinating, Red!" And just like that Perceptor was off, explaining in detail about his obsession with smaller objects. Red smiled and turned back to his terminal. It was nice having Perceptor to talk to, especially since he did most of the talking.

"Perceptor," Red broke into his monologue. Perceptor abruptly stopped and turned his attention to Red. "Would it be possible to link a security feed directly to a mech?"

"I think so. It'd be a lot to handle, though, depending on the size of the system."

"I wasn't thinking anything big. Just something about the size of Sideswipe's warehouse. Do they have anything like that at the Academy?"

"Not that I know of. Ironhide doesn't talk about the security much beyond the physical measures. I have met the mech in charge of the system a time or two, but it was outside the security room. He wasn't exactly forthcoming with his methods, not that I asked. Now that you have a code you could apply for the Academy yourself. Then you can study security systems with mechs that program them, you know."

"The Academy makes me…antsy."

"I don't understand why. The Academy is the best school in any of the cities. Wheeljack and Ratchet will give you recommendations. I could convince my creators to as well."

"It isn't the getting in that I'm worried about. It's the school itself. Besides, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker never went to the Academy and they're doing fine for themselves."

Perceptor nodded in concession. "I'll ask Ironhide and Chromia about linking to security feeds at home tonight. If they have any insight to it, I'll have them give me files to look at."

"Thank you."

--

Sideswipe onlined in the middle of the night. He quietly rolled off his berth. He didn't want to wake Sunstreaker. It had become an unfortunate part of his routine to wake up like this. The mech he'd seen a few orns ago snooping around the warehouse district had finally made a break in a few warehouses away from Sideswipe's. Sideswipe woke up to check the feeds so if he did break in, he could hopefully catch it early enough to make a difference. The security mechs had turned up nothing when the searched the warehouse that had been broken into. The mech was smart enough to cover his tracks.

Red was already awake and tapping his codes into the terminal. He'd noticed Sideswipe getting up. There wasn't a thing that went on in this apartment that Red didn't at least try to know about.

"Here," Sideswipe said, reaching around him to type in the pass codes to the feeds. "You didn't have to get up."

"I know." They both watched the feeds for a few breems. "Isn't there a better way of keeping an eye on these? It seems so hit or miss to do it this way."

"Well, if I had the credits, I could hire somebody to do routine patrols and watch the feeds at night, but I don't. Short of staying up all the time myself, this is the only way."

"What about having Sunny or I watch the feeds?"

"You know what Sunny is like without enough recharge. He'd be impossible. Plus, if his art suffers like he always says it will, we'll be out credits anyway."

"That still leaves me."

"It's not good for you to go without recharge either."

"It's just so inefficient."

"I know, but that's for me to worry about." Sideswipe closed the feeds and put a hand on Red's shoulder.

Red looked up at him. "I've been reading up on security feeds a lot. I'm trying to learn as much about them as possible. I might be able to improve the system for the warehouse."

"If Wheeljack thinks you can handle it, you can play around with the internal system. In the meantime, you want me to see if I can get my hands on a small system that you can experiment with on your own?"

Red nodded. "I've got some ideas I want to try. And Perceptor has opinions on everything."

Sideswipe laughed. "So I've noticed. I'll get something for you as soon as I can. Grapple is coming by the warehouse in a couple of days to pick up his order and I have some extra things he might like."

"Does he deal just in buildings?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Just curious. Perceptor has been building some things and he wants some opinions outside of Wheeljack. 'Different opinions yield better results', he says."

"Is Perceptor going to the Academy?"

Red looked back at the terminal. "He's already applied. With Ironhide as his creator, he's sure to get in."

"Why don't you try for the Academy?" Sideswipe knew he must have touched a sore spot when Red abruptly got to his feet and walked a few paces back towards his room.

"I don't want to go to the Academy," he spat.

"Why not? You can."

"I know I can, I just don't want to!" With that Red walked fully into his room and slid the door quietly shut behind him. Sideswipe strained his audios to listen to Red settle down onto his berth. He was more than a little surprised by Red's outburst. As interested as he was in security systems, Sideswipe thought he would jump at the chance to study under mechs who knew systems inside and out.

His chronometer reminded him it was well past time to be back in recharge. It was a problem that would have to be addressed, but Red obviously wasn't going to talk about it tonight. Time for recharge.


	10. Chapter 10

AN: This chapter was giving me horrible fits. I had about half of it written at one point, but I just couldn't get any farther. So I ended up redoing most of the beginning. I think it's better this way. Makes the end kick in a little better. Hope ya'll like it! And thank you so much for all your fantastic reviews!!

Disclaimer: I don't own, much to my dismay.

--

Sunstreaker came out of his room, rubbing the settled dust out of his optics as he came online. He barely took notice of the fact that Red was still at home before grabbing himself a cube of energon. He gulped it down and tossed the container in the recycler. "What are you still doing here?" he asked finally.

"Wheeljack had to run up to the Academy today to help another engineer with something," Red answered. "Perceptor and I aren't allowed in his labs unless he's around."

"Oh." With that settled, Sunstreaker plopped himself in front of the painting he'd been working on the orn before. Red was on the terminal, as usual, idly scanning through information. From the slight frown on his faceplates, Sunstreaker knew something was wrong, and it wasn't anything to do with the information. "All right, what's up with you? Your mood's distracting." Sunstreaker put down his brush and turned to look at Red.

Red fidgeted slightly before logging out of the terminal. "I'll go to my room then."

Sunstreaker cycled air through his intake, his engine growling softly. "I didn't say you had to leave. I want to know why. And don't bother lying either, save us both the trouble and tell the truth."

Red shook his head stubbornly. There was no way he was going to talk about it. It gave him a processor ache just to think about it.

After giving his painting a quick glance, Sunstreaker got to his feet. "Let's get out of here."

"Why?" Red tried to keep the strain out of his vocalizer. Going places was not a good idea either. Didn't Sunstreaker know that?

"I have to let this dry a bit, so we might as well go somewhere while I'm waiting. There's nothing to do here."

Red hurried back over to the terminal. "I was in the middle of something."

"And you logged out of it, so obviously it's not that important. It'll be good to get out of here for a little while, Red." Sunstreaker went to the door, Red following slowly behind him. He didn't get why the youngling was so upset. It wasn't like going to the lounge was that big of a deal.

Red stretched his sensors to their fullest when they left the familiar area around their apartment. There weren't many mechs in the general area, and the lounge Sunstreaker took him to wasn't much different. 

Sunstreaker sat himself at the side bar, slightly facing the door. Red sat beside him, optics darting about the room, taking in every detail he could. This wasn't so bad.

"Sunstreaker?"

Sunstreaker looked up and nodded politely. "Mirage, good to see you."

The blue noble smiled. "Good to see you as well."

"What brings you down this end of Iacon?"

"I'm meeting a friend of mine. We're going to look at crystal formations just outside the city I believe."

"Ah, it's a nice area. I've been there a time or two."

Mirage turned as the door opened, smiling when a green-armored mech walked in. "Hello, Hound." The mech came joined them and gave Sunstreaker a smile. "Sunstreaker, I'd like you to meet my friend Hound. Hound, this is Sunstreaker, the artist that did the new painting in my quarters."

"Ah, it's very impressive work. Mirage'll be the first to tell you I don't know a thing about it, but I know what I like."

Sunstreaker let out a short laugh. "Thanks." They traded small talk for a few breems before Sunstreaker noticed the way Hound's eyes kept flickering back towards Red. Hound caught sight of Sunstreaker's frown.

"Is everything okay with your youngling?"

He looked over his shoulder and nearly felt his spark fizzle. Red's eyes were blank, flat white; his hands clutching the side of the bar so tight, he'd left a scratch or two. A spark danced from one horn to the other on his helm. "Primus…"

--

When Sunstreaker has started talking to the blue mech, Red had taken the time to get a second look around the bar. There were hardly any mechs in the bar, but some looked a little suspicious. They kept eyeing him up in ways he didn't like. He knew he was out of place, but they didn't have to keep staring like that, did they?

Then that green mech came over. Sunstreaker's friend knew him, so maybe he was okay too, but he blocked off sight of the door. How was he supposed to see how anyone came in? It was bad enough that Sunstreaker's friend was blocking part of the room so he couldn't really see into one corner. There had been a mech sitting there before. Who knew where he had gotten to by now? The green mech kept looking at him. What did he want? The snippier part of Red wanted to know if he didn't know it wasn't polite to stare.

One mech got up and started walking across the room. He passed behind the green mech, Sunstreaker's friend, and finally Sunstreaker. Red had to fight to keep from watching him as the mech walked behind him. He grabbed the edges of the bar tight. He had to keep some control. He'd just attract even more attention. Standing out had gotten him into trouble before.

Red heard the door slide open as the mech was walking behind him. The ache that had been in the back of his processor swamped forward, making him freeze up. He was trapped between far too many mechs he didn't know. He was going to get taken again. He could feel it. Why did Sunstreaker bring him here? Didn't Sunny want him anymore? He wasn't gonna let that awful mech Sides had saved him from take him back was he? He couldn't move to check the room again. He couldn't tell where anyone was. How was he supposed to defend himself like they'd taught him?

The ache spiked again, shooting off a little bolt of electricity. He felt arms wrap around him and he panicked. He shrieked as loud as he could, his vocalizer cracking under the strain. He finally was able to move again, striking out at his captor.

Had to get away. Had to get back home. Had to get back where it was safe.

--

Sunstreaker grabbed Red tight as the youngling started tipping off the back of the stool. As soon as he grabbed him, Red screamed and started fighting him. Sunstreaker spared a brief thought to thank Primus they hadn't gotten far in teaching Red how to defend himself yet. Hound and Mirage tried to help him get Red under control, but the extra hands just seemed to make Red panic worse.

"Back off!" he shouted. He could feel Sideswipe reaching back through their bond, but he didn't have time to explain the situation to his twin. He had to get Red to Ratchet. The other mechs in the bar backed away, disgust clear in their optics. It made Sunstreaker angry to see. It didn't take a genius to know Red was glitching, and glitched mechs weren't exactly highly thought of. Mirage hurried to slide the door open for Sunstreaker, barely managing to duck out of the way as Red kicked at him. "I need Ratchet!"

"Who?" Mirage asked. Of all the days to get himself mixed up into trouble, it had to be today when he was actually looking forward to something.

"Ratchet! Works up in the med wing of the Academy," he managed to get out. Red was fighting hard. Sunstreaker drug him back towards Ratchet's apartment. He barely noticed when Hound went to find the nearest terminal to get in touch with the Academy. Luckily it wasn't too far, but he couldn't get into Ratchet's apartment without him there. Sunstreaker only hoped he'd hurry.

--

"I've got your order all together, Grapple," Sideswipe said with a smile. Grapple was by far one of his favorite customers. He was a good mech, really, but he was far too easy to sucker into buying more than he came for.

"Thank you, Sideswipe," Grapple started to say more, but noticed Sideswipe had stopped a few paces behind. "Sideswipe?"

"I'm sorry, I have to go." He grabbed Grapple by the arm and started dragging him back towards the entrance. "I'll contact you later with new pick up details."

"Sideswipe, what's wrong?" This was very unlike the genial red mech.

"I have to go." Sideswipe felt the wave of panic from Sunstreaker. Not much shook his brother like that, and what little he could puzzle out of it made it clear something happened to Red. He didn't spare anymore time apologizing to Grapple, and he barely remembered to lock up his warehouse. He had to get to Sunstreaker now.

It seemed to take forever to get across town. When he finally got to Ratchet's apartment, he found Sunstreaker practically sitting on Red to keep him from struggling. He spared a glance at Mirage and his friend before moving to help Sunstreaker. "Where's Ratchet?" he asked.

"On his way," Mirage's friend answered.

Together, the twins managed to get Red immobile. His horns were still sparking. Sunstreaker was sporting a good many dents and scratches from Red's assault, even dripping energon sluggishly from a gouge in his arm. Sideswipe didn't know what to do, but he kept up a steady stream of reassurances, remembering how it had calmed Red down when he had taken him from Swindle.

"Ratchet's coming, Red, he'll help you. It'll be okay, I promise. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you."

And maybe it was even true.


	11. Chapter 11

AN: Oh my Primus, Sunstreaker gave me fits with this chapter! I kept trying to tell him what I wanted him to do, and he kept refusing! shakes fist at the Sunny muse On the plus side, I tried to make it a little bit longer than the last few chapters. I kinda left it hanging again, but hopefully I won't take forever getting this next chapter out. Sides likes to cooperate a little better than his brother.

I hope ya'll like the explanation I put in with how the twins feel about Red and life in general. It's something I've been toying with for a little while. I hope I explained it okay.

Disclaimer: I don't own, much to my dismay.

--

Ratchet left the Academy at a dead run. He paid enough attention to where he was going to get back to his apartment and open the door, but the rest of his attention was going over everything he knew about glitching mechs. He stood aside as the twins moved Red inside. Between the two of them, they had him well-enough in hand that he couldn't struggle too much anymore. Ratchet didn't bother paying attention to the blue and green mechs left outside, letting the door slide shut when they didn't make an immediate move to follow. He didn't have time to waste on dithering like that.

"What can we do for him, Ratchet?" Sunstreaker asked, his worry clear in his voice. Sideswipe was still muttering in Red's audios. Red's optics flickered towards Sideswipe.

"What set him off?" Ratchet asked. If he didn't know what caused it, he could make it worse by putting him in forced stasis.

"He was upset this morning, but he wouldn't tell me why."

"Probably about the Academy thing," Sideswipe broke in, raising his voice just enough to be heard over Red's straining systems. Ratchet motioned for them to hurry up talking. The stress to Red's systems weren't good either.

"So I took him out to the energon bar near the apartment. We were sitting at the bar, and I was talking to Mirage." Sunstreaker's optics unfocused as he wracked his processor for anything that could have done this. "A mech walked behind us all at one point, and I noticed Hound kept looking back at him. When I looked, I saw a spark arch across his helm from horn to horn."

Ratchet crossed his arms and dug his fingers into his elbows. "Psychiatrists are much better at dealing with glitched mechs," he muttered.

"I think he was scared. We don't take him many places, and he normally stays between the two of us at all times when we are out. He sticks especially close to Sideswipe."

Ratchet tried to move closer, but Red's optics immediately snapped to him and his efforts to escape doubled.

"Easy, Red, it's okay, I promise. I've got you," Sideswipe said reassuringly. Red calmed a little, but his gaze moved from Sideswipe to Ratchet and back again. He wasn't going to let Ratchet come anywhere closer.

"He's been a little easier since Sideswipe got here," Sunstreaker added.

"Sunny, try letting go of him," Ratchet said softly. Sunstreaker carefully unwrapped himself from Red, earning himself a few more dents and scratches before the youngling curled into Sideswipe's chassis like he had when he was only a sparkling. He still looked over his shoulder at the other two every now and then, but he didn't let up on his tight hold on Sideswipe. "I guess just try letting him calm down. It's better than forcing him into stasis. That could make things worse if he really is scared of other mechs." Ratchet scanned him from where he stood, noticing his system activity levels were closer to normal.

It was quite a few joors before Red loosened his hold on Sideswipe. As soon as the ache in his processor subsided a little, he slipped into recharge, systems exhausted from straining against the twins' hold on him. Sideswipe shifted a little, trying to get a little more comfortable. Sunstreaker sat as close as he dared, moving a little closer when Red went into recharge. Ratchet would scan Red every few breems, keeping a close optic on the readings.

"I didn't know going out would do that to him," Sunstreaker said quietly, for Sideswipe's audios only. "I didn't mean for it to happen."

"I know, Sunny. When he wakes up, we'll tell him that too."

Sunstreaker watched Red, trying to resist reaching out and touching him. It was a familiar struggle. Sunstreaker often had trouble going into recharging at night, and would look in on Red frequently. It had been easier when he was still a sparkling and in the same room, but most nights now, Red shut the door. Sunstreaker didn't want to chance waking him. Sunstreaker shook his head a little, clearing his thoughts. He idly poked a few of the dents in his arms.

Red slowly came out of recharge. He felt Sideswipe's spark nearby, so he didn't immediately panic. As long as Sideswipe was here, he was safe. His optics flickered on.

When Sideswipe saw he was awake, he set Red beside him, but kept him tucked against his side. "How ya feeling, Red?" he asked.

Red looked slowly around the room, noticing where Ratchet and Sunstreaker were and their cautious looks. He made sure to check, too, that both the doors to Ratchet's apartment were locked. "I think I'm okay," he said softly.

Sideswipe looked to Ratchet for conformation, relaxing when the medic nodded. "What happened, Red?"

"There were so many mechs in that bar. I couldn't…I didn't know where everyone was. The last time I let anyone sneak up on me…" Red huddled closer to Sideswipe. "That mech took me. I tried to keep an eye on everyone, but Sunny's friends were there."

"You really think I'd let anyone take you?" Sunstreaker asked. "I didn't go through all that trouble of keeping you around just to let you get taken."

Ratchet plugged into the terminal with a wrist cable, trying to give them some privacy. He didn't want to leave in case Red panicked again, but he could do this.

"Sideswipe was the one that wanted me," Red muttered.

"I wanted you, Red, yeah, but Sunny's the reason anything gets done around here. I have the attention span of a turbo flea. If you two weren't around, I'd be a mess," Sideswipe said. At Red's horrified look, he tried to explain better. "I tried to explain this before, but I didn't say it well. Everything about me and Sunny is two halves of a whole. It's the way we are."

"Yeah…"

"I have the unfortunate tendency to move from one thing to another really quickly. It's why I keep my deals moving all the time, constantly have something happening. I would get bored if I didn't. Sunny, though, has the patience Primus gave the Prime. He takes awhile to get attached, but once he does, you don't ever have to doubt he'll take care of it."

"But because of our bond," Sunny continued. "We can force our traits on each other. When Sides' deals start getting boring, I can give him some patience to see it through. When I'm being an aft about making a decision, Sides gives me the push I need to make it."

"Both of us want you, Red. I wanted you first, that's all. Sunny took a little longer to convince, but you don't ever have to worry about him not wanting you."

Red was quiet as he thought this over. He'd noticed exchanges like that before. Sunstreaker had stared at a blank canvas for nearly a whole orn before Sideswipe leaned over his shoulder, grabbed a brush, put it in Sunstreaker's hand, and smeared blue paint across it. Sunstreaker had visibly lost his tension and turned out a fantastic painting of the Towers at night. Another time, Sideswipe was about ready to close an account with a mech called Hoist because the mech was dithering about the price. Sunstreaker had stood behind Sideswipe the whole time Sideswipe was on the terminal making arrangements. Sideswipe had eventually sealed the deal very much in his favor. It would make sense, really, that this would carry over into other parts of their lives. The majority of the twins' time was spent on their businesses, trying to eke out a living in the failing economy.

Sunstreaker slipped onto the berth on Red's other side. "Any mech that wants you, Red, will have to go through both of us. We'll protect you no matter what."

Red gave Sunstreaker a tentative smile and moved to lean against the yellow twin. "Sorry about that," he said, nodding towards the scratches and dents in Sunstreaker's armor. He idly traced a dent in Sunstreaker's leg.

"It's no big deal."

"Yeah, right. If I'd given you those, I'd be a pile of scrap," Sideswipe teased.

"I like Red. You're a pain in my aft."

Red listened to his two guardians bicker back and forth, content knowing they were both there.

--

"I don't feel like being here," Sideswipe said softly. He scowled darkly at any mechs that looked their way.

"We need the credits," Sunstreaker answered.

"No we don't. I can get what he needs through my other job."

"We won't have any left over. Times are getting rough."

"We'll be fine. We always are."

"There's three of us now. It's not going to be as easy as it was." Sunstreaker didn't want to be here anymore than Sideswipe did, but he couldn't justify leaving. They couldn't scrape by like they had been if the economy really did start getting worse. There was no way they would let someone else take care of Red either.

"Then I'll get another job or something. I just don't feel right being here right now."

Sunstreaker cycled air slowly, thinking over Sideswipe's words. Sideswipe was impulsive, yes, but normally his initial reactions were spot on. "Fine, let's go tell Onslaught we're leaving." They moved away from the wall and started down the labyrinthine halls towards Onslaught's office.

Louder than normal yells echoed after them. One of Onslaught's partners, Vortex, came barreling down the hall. "Iacon bots! It's a raid!"

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker shared a moment of panic before bolting for the nearest exit. If they got caught down in the Pits they were going to be jailed for way longer than they cared to think. There were too many mechs and not enough exits, and without their projectile weaponry, they had no choice but to tear through everyone else with their hands. It was brutal, but most of the mechs in their path were other fighters.

"At least one of us has to get back!" Sideswipe shouted over the din once they'd fought their way out. "Split up, ditch the armor, meet back up later." He shoved Sunstreaker in one direction and turned the other way himself.

Sunstreaker didn't hesitate. Neither of them could afford to. They'd gotten lucky with that exit. It had been a private fighter's entrance used only by regular mechs like themselves. The average new fighter, the kind Iacon had probably gotten their information from, wouldn't have known about it. For once Sunstreaker was glad for the ugly matte black armor. If he stuck to the shadows and turned his optics down, he was harder to see. He grimly noticed Sideswipe had shoved him in the direction of the quick route back. There weren't any mechs following him yet. He started stripping the armor, tossing pieces of 

it in different trash receptacles, taking a few roundabout routes to throw some in other places so he wouldn't leave a trail.

He got back to the warehouse before Sideswipe. He expected to. He reattached his normal armor and started walking sedately towards home. He didn't dare feel across the bond to Sideswipe. If Sideswipe was being tailed, he couldn't risk distracting him.

Sunstreaker and Red were in for a long night, it seemed.


End file.
